Two UNC Pembroke
business students were among 32 students from across the U.S. who attended
the prestigious Pioneer Student Leadership Academy in Lexington, Ky.,
thanks to scholarships from DuPont Fayetteville Works.

UNCP’s 2006 DuPont scholars are Michelle Mathis, a management major
from Pembroke, N.C., and Amanda Strickland, a finance major from Lumberton,
N.C. Both are third year students.

Michelle Mathis

Amanda Strickland

“This was a very diverse group of students who attended the camp at
the University of Kentucky,” Mathis said. “We worked on interpersonal
business skills mostly.”

“We had seminars in resume writing and interviewing skills,” said
Strickland. “It was 100 hours of training over two weeks.”

“One of the most interesting seminars was on personality typing,” Mathis
said. “They told us about our personality styles and how we would relate
in groups.”

The UNCP pair received $1,000 scholarships through DuPont Fayetteville Works
facility, which also funded the $5,000 tuition per student.

Dupont is a world leader in producing a wide range of innovative products
and services for markets including agriculture, nutrition, electronics, communications,
safety and protection, home and construction, transportation and apparel.
The company is a corporate sponsor of the Pioneer Student Leadership Academy.

Barbara Knight, Senior Human Resources Specialist for DuPont Fayetteville
Works, coordinated the community outreach project with UNCP and instructed
a class in behavior-based interviewing at the academy.

“This is the second year that we have partnered with UNCP in sending
students to the academy,” Knight said. “One of our key initiatives
is partnering with education and preparing our students for the world of
work. The academy gives students an opportunity to strengthen their
leadership skills and prepare for a competitive job market.”

The academy is sponsored by the Pioneers in Education Alliance and is a
public-private education consortium dedicated to preparing underserved and
underrepresented college students to lead the 21st century workforce. Its
goal is to create a pipeline of skilled workers and high-quality leaders
ready to face the challenges of the new millennium.

Mathis said the program proved valuable.

“I made a lot of good contacts with students, entrepreneurs and heads
of companies,” she said.

Strickland said students may continue their relationship with the academy.

“We can continue participation next year as group leaders,” she
said.

The academy offered the UNCP pair a look at their futures, said Cammie Oxendine,
assistant dean of UNCP’s School of Education.

“This program is valuable for our students because they receive training
and have an opportunity to look into the larger world of business,” Oxendine
said. “I would like to thank DuPont for supporting our future business
leaders.”

For more information about the DuPont scholars program at UNCP or about
the School of Business, please phone 910.521.6214 or email business@uncp.edu.